


Thank you for being born Idia!!

by RandomlyPassedBy



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Birthday, Birthday Presents, Gen, Happy Birthday Idia Shroud, How Do I Tag, Humor, Light-Hearted, Love you Idia Shroud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27916027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomlyPassedBy/pseuds/RandomlyPassedBy
Summary: Idia spends his birthday physically attending classes in the birthday uniform. It goes as well as one would expect...
Relationships: Idia Shroud & Everyone
Comments: 8
Kudos: 51





	Thank you for being born Idia!!

"I can't believe this. This is the worst nightmare ever!!"

Idia is standing in front of the mirror in Ignihyde leading to the hall of mirror in the main campus, hands fiddling with the attention-grabbing sash he was wearing. He is nervously looking at the clock, waiting for time to go fast or just stop. In fact, he would do anything for time to just skip today as a whole.

It is December 18th. His birthday.

Which is not a big deal to him but unfortunately, the Fates decided to screw him over this year.

Last night, while he was innocently watching anime in his room, a person magically appeared in his room and loudly made himself known.

_"Happy Birthday in advance, Idia Shroud-kun!"_

_Idia choked on his gummy worm. "H-headmaster?? Wha- how did you get here??"_

_The headmaster of Night Raven College merely waved a finger around, his eerie "eyes" upturned. "I have my ways around my school, including the dorms. Now, I've come to give you this!"_

_He reached inside his cloak and a transparent garment bag appeared out of it. Idia saw the white clothes and paled, remembering the headmaster's words earlier._

_"No no no no no. No way. There's no way I'm going to class tomorrow, especially if I have to wear that."_

_Ignoring his words, Crowley shoved the clothes at Idia, the latter reflexively taking it out of surprise._

_"I thought you might say that, so I'm here to remind you that you have used up all your tablet-allowance for the month. Here, have a look at this calendar."_

_The masked man apparated a calendar and showed the days where Idia used his tablet to attend classes. Idia counted ten days._

_"Shit, this was during the Megafest event." He really did use up all the days. He wracked his brains to come up with any other alternatives._

_"Ortho-"_

_"No can do! Ortho-kun has been assigned a special assignment tomorrow so he cannot attend your classes for you either."_

_"What assignment?? You're making him busy on purpose!"_

_"Ahem. Have you forgotten our agreement? I allowed the two of you to be in this school on the basis that I'm able to ask for favors from Ortho-kun. And he was more than happy to help with tomorrow's assignment. Is it that difficult for you to attend one day of classes physically?"_

_Idia grimaced. "It's hard enough any other day but now I have to wear the birthday uniform..."_

_Sensing defeat from the dorm leader, Crowley clapped his hands once. "Now that it's settled, I'll be leaving. I'll inform the other teachers to go easy on you, as I am very kind~"_

_With a swish of his cape, Idia was left alone in his room, staring at the birthday uniform with dread._

He can't believe even Ortho left him all by himself! His little brother was enthusiastically dressing him up this morning and making sure he put on all the little accessories that came along with the birthday uniform. Buttoning up the shirt, tying the ribbon with the NRC brooch and the blue and black sash. At least the fire pin he chose was kinda cool. 

"Happy birthday Nii-san! Hope you have an enjoyable day today!" he said and promptly left.

And here he is, waiting for the right time to move to his first class of the day. He did not want to arrive early to class as that would give his classmates the chance to sing him 'happy birthday', which is honestly something he personally thought people shouldn't do once they've already turned 13.

But he can't show up late to class, that would attract too much attention too. So he calculated the right time for him to enter the class a few minutes before Trein arrives. Thank Hades his first class is with the strict and punctual Trein, so he could count on the teacher to make things go as he planned. 

Finally the time arrives and he takes a deep breath before moving through the mirror. There are barely any students in the hall of mirror as classes start in five minutes. As stealthily as he can, Idia scurries to his class. 

He comes across some students but when they notice him he's already walking away quickly. Luckily his first class isn't too far from the hall of mirror so he didn't encounter too many students. 

Now in front of the classroom, he checks the time again. It should be the perfect time now. He looks across the hall and spots the History teacher walking towards his direction. With trembling hands, he pushes the door open and enters the room. He nervously scans the room for an empty table and doing his best to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"Idia-kun~! Come sit here!"

The birthday boy flinched at the attention. He identifies the voice, which is Cater, the cheerful redhead waving at him. 

Not wanting to draw more attention to himself and relieved to find a seat, Idia approaches Cater. He's a bit apprehensive since he has to sit beside the loud extrovert, but he quietly takes the seat. 

Cater looks him over. "I can't believe you're physically here on your birthday, in the birthday uniform! We should take a commemorative picture of this rare sight~"

Just as Cater takes out his phone and Idia contemplates running back to his room, Trein enters the class. 'My saviour...!'

"Settle down. We will start our lesson now."

As the lesson goes on, Idia feels himself relaxing. It feels just like any other day, aside from the stifling birthday uniform. Unfortunately, the lesson approaches an end and he starts getting anxious again.

Before ending the class, Trein makes an announcement. 

"As I am sure everyone is aware, it is Idia Shroud's birthday today. As he has put effort to physically attend his classes, try not to crowd him and give him some space."

The birthday boy feels his face grow warm. He is embarrassed by the attention, but he is grateful for Trein's effort to make him comfortable. The teacher gives him a rare smile.

"Happy birthday Idia-kun."

"T-thank you Trein-sensei."

Trein leaves the class as the bell rings. Some of the students get up and leave as well, some still hanging around as there is some time left before their next class. Idia sighs and slumps on the table. 'It's not even midday yet... time please go faster...'

"Idia-kun~ happy birthday!"

The Ignihyde dorm leader reluctantly turns his head to Cater, seeing his classmate grinning. "Thanks Cater-shi..."

"I have a gift for you. Here you go, it's your wifey." He hands Idia a plush keychain.

That got the birthday boy upright. "Miku! How did you know?"

Cater has a proud look on his face. "Give me some credit, I take note of my classmates' interests y'know. Do you like it?" he asked.

Idia examines the keychain. It was a good quality keychain, and original too.

"Yeah. I already have five of these though."

Idia hears the sound of a click and turns around to see Cater with his phone lifted in the air. 

"Yay~ a super rare picture with Idia-kun! #birthdayboy #raresight #mydearestclassmate #happybirthday."

The gamer is shocked by how fast Cater took a selfie. He was only distracted for ten seconds and Cater already took a selfie. He frowns. 'This is why extroverts are so exhausting!'

"Oh yeah I have another gift for you," the peppy ginger takes out a box from is bag. "This is from Trey-kun."

"Is that cake?!" Idia quickly reaches out and takes the cakebox.

"I thought long and hard and did my research before buying the keychain and yet you get more excited over Trey's cake, which he bakes every other day. I am hurt." He huffs and turns his head away from Idia, sulking.

Not affected one bit by the act and happily peeking in the cake box, Idia merely hums. "Of course, cakes are always exciting. But don't worry I'll put the keychain on my bag."

Cater laughs, not really upset by Idia's reaction. 

The bell rings, signaling the start of the next period. 

Not wanting to bump into more students, Idia magic-zaps the items to be sent to his room and gets up. 

"Bye Idia-kun, hope you enjoy your birthday~"

"Mm. Thanks."

Luckily, Idia makes it to the lab without meeting anyone. Since it is an elective class, the students are not very well-acquainted with each other, meaning they probably won't pay him much attention. 

"Joyeux anniversaire Roi de Ta Chambre!"

Of course, there are some who pay too much attention to him in this class too. Rook Hunt being one of them.

Idia shrinks in his seat and away from his deskmate. "A-ah, umm merci monsieur. Please have mercy on me." 

The Pomefiore student brings out a box from his seat and hands it to Idia. "A little present from me. I think it would suit you well."

Curious, Idia opens the box. 

It was a black fedora hat. With fancy feathers on it. It does look pretty in a way, but Idia could not imagine anyone wearing it, much less himself. Any gentleman would just thank the giver and be done with it. But Idia is not a gentleman. 

He pulls a face. "How gaudy. In what universe do you see this looking good on me?"

Rook laughs. "In a universe where you know your beauty! The sleek black feathers would contrast against your bright hair beautifully."

Their conversation was interrupted by a third person approaching their desk.

"Rook, please don't force him to wear it, especially not now when he's wearing the birthday uniform. The colours would clash."

Idia silently thank the heavens that Vil showed up. He wouldn't know how to handle the enigmatic hunter otherwise. Vil hands him a cylindrical bottle.

"Happy birthday. Here's my gift for you."

He takes the gift. The clear bottle was filled with some blue-coloured liquid. "A potion?"

"Even better. A facial cleanser."

Idia stares at him with a deadpan face. "Wow. How thoughtful of you. I love it so much."

The Pomefiore dorm leader smirks, crossing his arms. "Don't be sarcastic. That cleanser is the same one your favourite idol group Gakemo uses."

"W-what?! How would you know of this information?" 

"My company's stylist worked with them a few times. She told me about it."

The Gakemo fan stares at the bottle with newfound admiration. "To be using the same cleanser Gakemo uses, the cleanser that gives them their youthful shine despite being an idol for a long time... I'll use it! Thank you very much!"

Any further conversations are cut off as Crewel enters the lab. "Be quiet puppies!"

The class went by uneventfully. Idia got himself immersed in the experiment and had fun observing the liquid in his cauldron turn different colours. But of course, the lesson comes to an end with the ring of the bell. 

"That is all for today. Make sure to keep a sample of your potion in a vial. Shroud, stay. The rest of you, dismissed."

Just when he thought this day couldn't be more daunting, Crewel was asking him to stay. Nervous, he slowly approaches the teacher at his table while everyone else went out the class.

Crewel put his hands together. "Shroud, you've been diligent in attending my classes and your grades are exceptionally well, aside from your bad posture."

The student rolled his eyes, ready for the oncoming lecture on his posture. 

"I don't usually do this for any other students, so be a good boy and appreciate this." Crewel searches for something under his table, and takes out a paper bag. 

"Happy birthday." He slides the bag towards Idia.

Idia takes a few seconds to process what was happening. "Eh?"

"It's a present. For the cold weather these days."

The student blinks a few times in confusion. This strict teacher was giving him a birthday present? Still in a daze, Idia looks inside the paper bag. It was a clothing item, a fur-lined hoodie by the looks of it. The colour was similar to his own hoodie.

'He bought me a hoodie? No, even before that, he bought me a birthday gift??'

The Ignihyde dorm leader is surprised and slightly honoured that Crewel is giving him a gift. "T-thank you very much..."

"Move along now puppy, or you'll miss lunch."

Taking the gift with him, Idia leaves the laboratory. He zaps the gift to his room as well. Now, he has to face one of the most dreaded things in his life.

Going to the cafeteria for lunch.

On days he physically attends classes, he would usually eat some snacks and play games on one of the many balconies around the main building. Unfortunately, last night he forgot to ate some proper dinner and now he is starving. 

But to actually buy food in the cafeteria... and to eat there... just the thought of it makes his palms sweaty. 

"Ah, found you Idia-senpai."

Forgetting that he was standing in the middle of the hallways, Idia turns around in surprise hearing someone call his name. In the otherwise deserted hallways, he finds Jack and Epel looking at him with eager smiles. 

"Jack-shi and Epel-shi..." A tiny Idia in his mind snickered because 'Applejack fuhihi that's cute'

"Happy birthday Idia-senpai!" The two juniors hold out what Idia assumes are his presents. Jack was holding a rectangular container, and Epel a bag of sweets. It's no contest to which one Idia takes first.

"Aa, umm. Thank you." He inspects the sweets. It was something Idia has never seen before, called Apple Candy Drop Pop. 

"It's a special candy from my hometown. I hope you like it," the Pomefiore student gives him a small smile and the big brother instincts in Idia wanted to ruffle his hair but he held himself back. 

"This one is a combined effort. I proposed the idea, Ruggie-senpai did the cooking and Leona-senpai paid for everything."

Keeping the sweets, Idia takes the container from Jack and opens it. He was hit with a whiff of a delicious scent before he sees the contents.

"Steak??"

There inside the container was a well-cooked steak, fresh rosemary at the side with butter sauce under it. Combined with his hunger, Idia feels himself salivating. 

Jack rummages through his pocket and takes out a piece of folded paper. "Leona-senpai also said to give you this."

Idia takes the paper and reads it.

 _  
'Get some meat in your body, you daikon radish sprout. HB. -Leona'_   
  


He immediately ignites the paper in flames. He gives a tight smile to Jack and says "I will enjoy the meat deliciously. Thank you."

The two juniors went their separate ways after that, and Idia is left wondering where he should go to enjoy his lunch gift. Just as he was heading to find an empty balcony, a loud, cheery voice rings out.

"There he is! Jamil I found him!"

Recognizing the voice, Idia glances over his shoulder to confirm that it was indeed Kalim. Another extrovert Idia would avoid at all costs. He quickens his steps in hopes of losing the guy chasing him but it only made the chaser run towards him faster. 

Kalim reaches him and blocks him before he could turn the corner. "Where are you going Idia? Let's have lunch together!" 

Idia lets out a surprised yelp at being cornered. "K-kalim-shi, please spare me."

The oblivious Scarabia student merely raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. He looks at Idia and something clicks in his head.

"Oh, it's your birthday today! So that's why Jamil was looking for you. Happy birthday! We should have a feast in Scarabia!"

Flashbacks of the last time he was dragged to Scarabia went through Idia's mind. The strong aroma of the food, the festive music, the amount of people, the warm air, the overall loud atmosphere, the Cater, Kalim and Rook trio, the-

"Kalim, you're making him panic. Idia-senpai would probably appreciate a more quiet lunch time. Right?"

The birthday boy turns to look at his saviour, his angel without wings, his knight-in-printed-hoodie.

"Jamil-shi..." 

Jamil lifts up a bag of stacked containers. "We already have our lunch packed. Mind if we join you Idia-senpai?"

Idia chews his lips in thought. He doesn't mind Jamil but he has to put up with Kalim too. But he didn't want to be rude. And Jamil _was_ looking for him earlier, based on what Kalim said. At least Jamil can handle Kalim for him.

"...I don't mind."

Kalim cheers. "Lead the way Idia!"

They make their way to one of the many balconies of the main building. Kalim settles down on the floor and waits for the other two. Jamil sits down and starts laying out the containers of food. 

"Please have some Idia-senpai, I made extra." 

"Okay."

Surprisingly, Idia finds himself enjoying his lunch with the Scarabia duo. The Savanaclaw steak was delicious, and Jamil's homemade dishes were perfect as always. Kalim kept chattering away but Idia finds that he didn't mind it that much when Jamil keeps replying with sarcastic and dry answers and Kalim laughing about it. It was like a sitcom. 

"Before I forget, here you go Idia-senpai. Happy birthday."

They mostly finished eating when Jamil passes a box to Idia. 

"You got me a present?" Idia is a bit touched that a lot of people were giving him presents today.

Jamil waves his hand around dismissively, probably embarrassed. "It's just something I saw in a store."

Idia takes off the lid of the box and sees a pair of training pants. Anyone else would never think of buying Idia training pants, but Jamil knows Idia wears them during their weekly dance sessions. 

"Thank you Jamil-shi."

"No fair! Why didn't you tell me about Idia's birthday, I would have prepared a gift too," Kalim complains. 

"If you were a good friend you would have remembered it yourself." 

Kalim pouts for a second before widening his eyes. "Ah, I might have something on hand!" 

He rummages through his bag and takes out a round jewelry box. He filters through the contents of it before finding what he was looking for.

"Here you go Idia! I'm not sure if you wear accessories so you can pin this anywhere you want."

Kalim hands him a golden brooch with blue gems decorating it in an intricate pattern. Idia takes it and inspects it. It is quite pretty, if not a bit flashy. 

He taps a bit on the brooch. "Wait, is this real gold?"

Kalim smiles. "It should be. Why?"

Idia was about to retort, to tell him how everything is so absurd, why does he carry around gold items and why is he just handing it to him when Jamil puts a hand on Idia's shoulder, shaking his head. 

"Ah, as expected of a rich kid..." Idia puts the brooch inside the box with Jamil's gift and zaps it away. 

As the three of them were relaxing and enjoying the breeze, the door to the balcony opens. They turn to the door and find Riddle, Ace and Deuce there.

"Finally found you Shroud-senpai. We looked everywhere for you!" said Deuce.

"Eh, w-why were you looking for me?" Idia honestly doesn't understand why people were looking for him. 

Riddle sighs and approaches him. "Isn't it obvious? To wish you a happy birthday of course."

"How did you know I'm on campus today?" He was sure most people would just assume he's not physically attending classes if they couldn't find him.

Ace snickers at that. "You can thank Cater-senpai for that. We saw his Magicame post."

Idia frowns and clicks his tongue in annoyance. "This is why I hate Magicammers."

"Anyway, happy birthday Idia-senpai." Riddle hands him a book.

"What's this?" Idia turns the book around.

"Your gift."

The title of the book reads "How To be a Better Speaker."

The Ignihyde dorm leader scoffs. "What are you implying by giving me this book? How rude Riddle-shi."

Riddle looks unbothered. "It's good for you."

"Sure..." Idia should have expected this from the strict Heartslabyul dorm leader. It's probably his way of showing his affection. 

Kalim beams at him. "Oh, that looks interesting. Good for you Idia!" 

Idia just silently zaps the book away like all the other gifts.

"Shroud-senpai, happy birthday!" 

The birthday boy takes a deep breath, ready to interact with yet another well-wisher. "Yes Deuce-shi, thank you. What do you have to offer for me?"

Deuce enthusiastically takes out a round item from the bag he was holding. 

"We didn't know what to get you, then I remembered the time I borrowed your magical wheel. So here's a custom designed helmet." 

Idia's eyes widened as he takes the helmet. "This is such a cool design! It has cat ears!" The helmet was all black with some subtle blue details and two pointed ears on it. 

"Ace helped with the design," Deuce reluctantly confessed in a small voice.

"I stopped him from adding fur linings. You're welcome."

'Fur linings...?' Idia couldn't imagine where the fur linings were supposed to go. Either way he's glad there's none. "Thank you for stopping him."

Deuce scowls at Ace, angry that the latter exposed his questionable choices.

The bell rings, alerting all of them that lunch time was over. Idia sighs, thinking about how he's only halfway through this day. 

Everyone part ways after wishing happy birthday to Idia once more. 

"You have class after this?" Jamil asks him while they were walking down the stairs.

"Yeah. PE with Vargas," Idia muttered. 

Jamil whistles lowly and pats his shoulder. "All the best."

Idia shudders, thinking of the dreadful time waiting for him. Of all days that he had to attend classes, on his birthday, he just had to have PE in the schedule. The Fates were really enjoying themselves screwing him over. 

He reluctantly makes his way to the changing rooms. Luckily, there were not many students around, most of them already back in their dorms. Idia begrudgingly enters the changing room and is surprised to find that it is deserted.

"Oh, our birthday boy has arrived."

Idia understands the reason behind the deserted room when he sees the only two occupants there, Lilia and Malleus.

"Shroud, happy birthday." Malleus smiles at him.

"E-eh umm thanks Malleus-shi…" Idia was still in awe around Malleus because he just oozes that SSR character aura.

Lilia pops up in front of him. "Here, I bestow my present to you." He hands Idia an oddly-shaped item wrapped with bright "happy birthday" wrappers.

Idia tentatively accepts the item. "Oh. Thanks…?"

"Open it now, that's part of the beauty of the present."

Slightly confused, Idia proceeds to unwrap the gift. Not finding an opening around the wrapper, he tears through it. Once the object is revealed, the birthday boy is even more confused. He looks at Lilia's grinning, expecting face.

'It's just… it's… Oh!'

"It’s a avocado~! Thanksss~" Idia grins at Lilia, recreating the viral video. 

Lilia lets out a laugh. "See Malleus, he gets it. You're just not in with the trends."

Idia doesn't tell Lilia that the video was a really old one and any other person would probably not get the reference.

Malleus just shakes his head. "You're lucky he gave you the fruit in the natural state and not attempt to cook it in any way."

The gamer has heard stories of Lilia's infamous attempts at cooking from Silver. He remembers the dread on Silver's face as he recalls the things he had to eat. He shudders. "Ah, thank god for fresh avocado."

He zaps the avocado away. He was about to change into his PE uniform when Malleus stops him.

"Shroud, you don't like exerting energy when flying right? Why don't you ride with me today?"

The birthday boy takes a few seconds to process the information.

"What."

"You can ride with me on my broom. I’ll persuade Vargas to allow it for your birthday."

Idia pictures the image in his head. Him, in his birthday outfit, holding on to Malleus on his broom.

"No no no no no. No way. First of all why? Second of all how? And really, why??"

Idia wouldn't consider Malleus a "friend", he helped Malleus with some tech issues a few times, and he did buy a new Gao Gao Dragon-kun for the fae, but they barely interact any other time. 

The SSR character merely smiles. "Because it is your birthday. You can hold my shoulders if you're too shy to hold my waist. And because I think you'd appreciate the free ride."

He does have a point. Idia was really dreading flying lessons because he has to exert so much energy. Having a free ride doesn't sound too bad, even if he still doesn't get why Malleus is offering one. Malleus is a good flyer too, he's sure he'll be safe in the air. 

"...I guess I'll take the offer."

"Good. Let's go."

They go out to the field where some students were already flying around. Vargas notices them. 

"Shroud, it's your birthday today? Well, that's still no excuse to skip your training. Or are you comfortable enough in the uniform to fly?"

Malleus steps up to the buff man. "Actually, I was wondering if he can ride with me today. I think it'll be a good visual practice for him, to get him used to the skies."

The PE teacher and Diasomnia dorm leader have a stare-off for a while. Idia looks on and wonders if he can just run off and skip the class.

In the end Vargas concedes. "Fine. Consider it a birthday gift from me."

Malleus turns to Idia and beams. Idia doesn't know why Malleus is acting like he managed to get a SSR card from a single pull, but Idia finds himself smiling too. 

The fae calls forth his broom. "Okay, would you like to ride in front of me or back?"

Idia starts to regret taking this offer. He didn't even consider sitting in front of Malleus. How does that work? Isn't that what couples do?? Why is Malleus asking him so casually? Has he done this before?

"Uhh, back." He decides he couldn't imagine Malleus wrapping his arms around him so he'll take the back. 

He gets behind Malleus and puts his hands on the fae's shoulders. Malleus positions the broom under them and then Idia feels his feet get lifted off the ground. His body tilts for a second making him yelp and reflexively wrap his arms around Malleus' waist.

"Are you okay?" Malleus puts one hand on Idia's.

Idia's mind goes haywire.

'What am I?? A shoujo heroine??' Even so, he hides his face on the Diasomnia student's back. He lets out a sigh. 

"I'll be fine..."

He feels the breeze around him and finds himself enjoying it. Eventually, he lifts his head and looks at his surroundings. The main building appear even more like a majestic castle when viewed from above. 

Wait, the main building...?

"Malleus-shi, where are we going? Why are we so far from the field??" Idia fears for his life then, thinking that this is the point where the heroine finds out the person she trusted was using her and was about to bring her to a secluded area to kill her and-

"Relax Shroud. This is where I always go. It's better for everyone that I fly here."

Before Idia could even begin to figure out what Malleus meant, a booming voice rang out.

"WAKA-SAMA YOU LOOK MAJESTIC AS ALWAYS FLYING ON YOUR BROOM."

Idia almost fell from the broom in surprise. He looks down to the source of the voice. There, far below them, Idia sees two small figures. He knows one is Sebek, the owner of the loud voice, and he guesses that the other person is Silver as the pair is always seen together. 

"WHAT AN HONOUR IT IS TO BE ABLE TO SPECTATE SUCH A GLORIOUS SIGHT."

"Don't tell me he does this every time?" Idia feels his throat go dry at the thought. How does one have that much energy? 

"Only on days where he doesn't have classes." Malleus maneuvers the broom to descend. 

Approaching the ground, Idia confirms that it was indeed Silver standing with Sebek. 

"Sebek, it's Shroud's birthday today." Malleus announces once they've landed, as if Idia's glaring white vest, bright sash and ribbon were not enough indicator. 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY. WHAT AN HONOUR FOR A HUMAN TO RIDE TOGETHER WITH WAKA-SAMA."

Idia flinches at the loud wish. "I'm right here, you don't have to shout!"

"I'M NOT SHOUTING!"

Silver puts a hand on Sebek's shoulder, shaking his head. 

"I apologize for Sebek, Idia-senpai. It's just how he is."

The second year approaches Idia, ignoring Sebek's indignant cry at the back.

"Happy birthday Idia-senpai," Silver smiles at Idia. Suddenly sparkles seem to appear around Silver, similar to a scene where the love interest is finally realizing his feelings for the protagonist.

"O-oh Silver-shi..." he breathes out.

The silver-haired ~~prince~~ student hands him an energy drink. There is a sticky note on it.

_  
Happy birthday Idia-senpai_

_-Silver  
  
_

'Oh my... he's giving me a drink... and wrote a note on it...' As he takes the drink, Idia hears the twinkling sound of bells as bgm.

He holds the can tenderly. "Thank you. I'll treasure it."

Silver notices something and reaches a hand towards Idia's face. He brushes some hair away.

"You have something in your hair."

Idia thinks he's about to faint.

Suddenly, Lilia pops up out of nowhere and stands beside Idia. "Oh I like that drink. May I have one as well, Silver?"

"Of course fa- Lilia-senpai." Silver takes out another can and gives it to Lilia.

Idia watches all of this unfold in shock. The bgm goes 'dun dun dun DUNNN'. That's when Idia knew, this was his love rival.

Wait.

Hold on a minute. Lilia as the love rival??

Idia shakes his head and is back in reality, the only bgm being the sound of the breeze and the rustling of the leaves on the trees around them. He doesn't know what kind of magic Silver has, but Idia always finds himself in weird situations when he's around Silver. He calls it the "shoujo male lead" magic. 

The four Diasomnia students are chatting amongst themselves. Idia looks at the drink in his hand. It was an okay gift. He appreciates it all the same, but maybe not as much as his shoujo-self earlier. 

The bell rings, making Idia realize that he spent quite a long time flying with Malleus before they landed here. He takes note of the buildings closest to them.

"Do you want a ride back, Shroud?" Malleus asked.

Idia shakes his head. "It's okay, I have club activities now. I think the room is just around here, so I'll be fine on my own."

"Okay. Once again, happy birthday Shroud."

Lilia waves goodbye at him. "So long Idia~ have a good birthday."

"Thank you for the avocado Lilia-shi." Idia snickers at the memory. "And for the ride, Malleus-shi."

Idia leaves the quartet and moves towards the building on their right. He sees Lilia and Malleus taking off on their brooms shortly afterwards, Sebek and Silver heading to a different building. 

He heads to the direction of the club room, in a happier mood because he only has club activities left for today before finally being able to go back to his room peacefully. 

"There he is! Oi Yuu, I found him!"

Idia cursed his luck. Just when he thought he could finally relax for the day. 

"Idia-senpai, please wait!"

Sighing, the birthday boy stops walking and turns around. Yuu is sprinting to him from across the hall. Idia observes as he stops in front Idia and takes a moment to catch his breath. Grim was comfortably hanging on the first year's shoulder, his usual signature smirk on his small cute face. 

Yuu straightens up and grins at Idia. "Happy birthday Idia-senpai! May you have a long and prosperous life ahead of you." 

"Thank you. Umm, you too." Idia mentally slaps himself for the weird response.

Yuu laughs good-heartedly. He reaches into his bag and takes out an orange-coloured packet.

"Hope you like the gift. I had to remind Grim not to eat it a number of times."

Idia takes the packet and notices that it was candy. But it wasn't just any candy, it was a special Halloween edition green-coloured peanut butter cups!

"Woah I love these!! Wait, you kept this since Halloween?" There was a sale at Sam's shop during Halloween and this was one of the popular items at the time.

Grim huffs. "Yeah, I wanted to eat it for so long but Yuu keeps slapping my paw away whenever I reach for it. So be thankful."

"You already thought of my birthday gift during Halloween?" Idia was touched. He himself can barely remember people's birthday, relying only on reminders and game notifications.

Yuu shrugs. "You mentioned it was your favourite during Halloween so I thought I'd keep them for you." Yuu didn't mention how the Halloween celebration lasted for a long time and by the time it was over it was already near to Idia's birthday. 

Idia grins at the human. "Thank you. I'll be sure to enjoy these."

"I sure hope you do, because I didn't get to eat it." Grim complains.

Looking at the cat, Idia cracks a smile, showing his sharp teeth. "And what about your gift for me, Grim?"

"The candy is my gift too!"

"No no this is from Yuu. For your gift, why don't you let me pet you~?" Idia reaches out for the cat.

Grim's ears flatten and he lets out a yelp. "I'm a strong magician! I can't let you pet me like a cat!"

Yuu takes hold of the squirming cat and holds him towards Idia. "Come on Grim, just let Idia-senpai pet you for today. It's not like he's gonna hurt you."

The grey creature lets out a defeated sigh and allows himself to be held by Idia. The birthday boy feels his spirits lift, the warmth from the cat making him happy. 

"Ooo Grim you're such a cute ball of fluff aren't you~?" He pats Grim's head and then nuzzles his face on top of the creature's head. Grim allows it for a while before he finally pushes a paw to Idia's face. 

"That's enough! You had your gift now let me go!"

Idia reluctantly lets go of Grim, the creature huffing and puffing as he's released. 

"Treating me like some household cat... One day I'll blast you all away with my magic...!" he mutters under his breath. 

Yuu merely chuckles seeing the disgruntled cat. 

"I guess we'll go now. Once again, happy birthday senpai!" Yuu sprints away and waves goodbye at Idia. 

The blue-haired senpai laughs seeing the enthusiastic first year. Idia admires how strong Yuu is, having no magic and adapting in such a foreign world to his own. 

Making his way to the club room, Idia takes one of the peanut butter cups and eat it. It was just as delicious as he remembers it. He hums a bit in happiness, feeling the sugar kick in. 

Shimmying his shoulders, he opens the door to the club room, expecting the room to be empty. But before he could take a step in, he's glomped by a 190cm tall eel. 

"Gek!"

"Hotaruika-senpai! Happy birthday~"

Idia repeatedly hits the tall boy's back, asking to be released. "T-too tight-" he gasped out.

Floyd releases him from his tight squeeze, Idia letting out a breath as he does so. 

"Floyd, didn't Azul tell you not to squeeze him too tight? Idia-san is a very frail man after all."

Recognizing the voice, Idia looks into the room and sees Jade sitting on a chair alongside Azul. He shudders.

"W-why are these two here? Did I do something wrong?" Idia addresses the question to Azul. The twins have only visited them once during club activities, and that was when he got into an argument with Azul and the latter wanted to intimidate him into submission. 

The Octavinelle dorm leader plasters on his usual business smile and says "It's nothing of that sort Idia-san. They heard about your birthday and wanted to personally give you their gifts."

"That's right!" Floyd takes Idia's hand and pulls him inside the room. He pulls out something from a paper bag. "Here, my gift for you~"

He holds the clothes open, a black short-sleeves t-shirt with a drawing of a firefly squid on it. He tilts his head to the side, grinning. 

"It's cute right~?" he pushes the t-shirt towards Idia. The birthday boy tentatively takes it. He supposes it's a pretty nice gift. Since it's a t-shirt he can always wear it in his room. The material feels pretty comfortable too. And the drawing... 

"Mm, it's kinda cute..." he muses. Floyd has a satisfied look on his face hearing the comment.

"I'm afraid my gift is not as cute as Floyd's, but do accept this from me," said Jade, holding a small rectangular box. Idia takes the gift and sees that it was a fountain pen. 

He doesn't know how to react. It was such a plain gift. He barely even use a pen. Any nice person would just thank the giver and be done with it. But Idia is not any nice person.

"Do you still have the receipt for this?"

"I know what you're thinking. But this is not just a normal fountain pen, Idia-san," he smiles. "This pen can be used to write underwater."

Idia blinks twice. "Why would I need to write underwater?"

The eel grins wider, showing a glint of his sharp teeth. "Who knows? If you ever find yourself needing to sign any contracts underwater, you would definitely find a use for it then."

"Riiiiiiight. Okay. Not sus at all." Idia puts the pen aside with the t-shirt.

Floyd moves towards the door. "Jade~ let's go find Goldfish-chan, I'm bored already," he huffs out. 

The other twin bows slightly to the other two occupants of the room. "Well then, we will take our leave. See you later Azul. Happy birthday, Idia-san."

Idia waves the twins goodbye, glad that they were not staying for long. He takes a seat opposite of Azul at the table, his usual place.

"Well, that was interesting," he snickered. 

Azul just silently takes out a paper bag and puts it on the table, his face full of glee. "Not as interesting as my gift, I'm sure."

The Ignihyde dorm leader raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Oh? No discount cards for Mostro Lounge this time?" Idia pulls the bag towards him.

"Of course not. Take a look for yourself." The silver-haired student leans back in his seat and crosses his arm, face full of confidence.

Idia takes out the box in the bag. He gasps loudly once he turns the box around.

"THE LIMITED EDITION HOSHIKOU FIGURINE?! I FOUGHT SO HARD AT AN AUCTION TRYING TO WIN THIS!!" He grips the box in disbelief.

Azul sighs from across him. "Yes, I was involved in the auction too."

That made Idia realize something. He widens his eyes at Azul. "Wait, you were user TKCC?? You mean you paid 2.5million madols for this?!"

The silver-haired student slams his hands on the table. "Yes! Because you kept raising the price! You darn HoshikouSimp77!!"

Idia stares at the angry student for a minute, processing the information he just received. Realizing that he literally raised the price of Azul's gift for him, he laughs.

Azul merely shakes his head, half-expecting the reaction from Idia. 

The birthday boy's laughter slows down to giggles. "You could've just bought me any other thing in the world with that amount of money. Heck, you can even buy ten of the firefly squid t-shirt like Floyd," he laughs.

"As if. I had to get you the best gift, I can't lose to some measly cakes or t-shirts."

Idia smiles at his board game partner. "Well, you definitely won. I love it. Thanks Azul-shi."

Azul smiles back at him. "I'm glad. Oh, I've got these too." He takes out a big pouch and puts it on the table.

"It's from Sam-san. I went to his shop earlier and he told me to pass it to you. I think they're candies."

"From Sam-shi?" Idia was surprised the shop owner gave him a gift. He opens the pouch. "Yup, candies! The best kinds too." 'What a kind person...!'

He takes one out and puts it in his mouth. He offers the pouch to Azul. "Have some Azul-shi."

"No thank you, it's your gift anyway," Azul politely declined.

Idia shrugs. More for him then.

"What game should we play today? I'll let you pick since it's your birthday."

Idia looks suspiciously as Azul. "Even letting me pick a game? I know it's my birthday but this is suspicious."

"How rude. I'm only being considerate to the birthday boy," he smirks.

Knowing it's better to not question it, Idia chooses to play Battleground.

They played a number of rounds and Idia ends up winning against Azul. The sun starts to set, Idia seeing the skies turn orange. Azul checks at the time.

"Well then, it's time for us to go. Once again, happy birthday Idia-san." 

"Aa, thanks..." Idia was getting a bit tired listening to the words. Luckily the day was ending already.

They both leave the room and Azul locks it up. Usually they would walk together to the hall of mirrors but today Azul had some other things he had to settle on campus, so Idia heads to the hall of mirror by himself. 

The school is pretty quiet at this time of the day, the only sound coming from the far-off field, sounds of whistles and the magift team practicing. Idia finally reached the hall of mirrors and sighs in relief, knowing he's finally done with the day and can go back to the comfort of his room and take off the stifling birthday uniform. 

He steps into the Ignihyde mirror and feels the magic transport him. He finds himself in Ignihyde, the usual blue hues around the dorm. He was heading towards his room when the sound of fanfare starts blasting around the dorm, startling him.

'Just when I thought I was safe...' he looks around suspiciously, not seeing any of the dorm members around. He then notices the screens and displays around the dorm lobby. All around, there are messages wishing him a happy birthday. There's even a few drawings of him.

_"Happy birthday to our best dorm leader, Idia!" "You're a year older, how does that feel?"_

_"Don't forget your birthday gacha today..." "HB DL" "Here's to more Ws boss!"_

Idia snickers, seeing some funny wishes. His dorm members were cute. 

"Idia-taichou."

Idia jumps, not noticing a presence behind him. He turns to the offender, holding a hand to his heart. 

"Oh it's you, Kuro. You surprised me."

The small vice-leader stares at Idia with his usual deadpan face. "I was here from the moment you entered. You just didn't notice me as usual. Anyway, some of the students made a cake for you."

Idia perks up at the mention of a cake. He still has Trey's cake in his room too. 

Both dorm leader and vice were distracted when a person enters through the mirror. Idia brightens up when he sees who it is.

"Ortho!"

"I'm back Nii-san! Did you spend a good birthday today?" Ortho glides over and gives his brother a hug. 

Idia groans. "It was one of the most tiring day I ever experienced. But I've got a lot of presents, at least."

The younger Shroud looks up at his brother with bright eyes. "Are you still up for another trip outside? Can we go find some candies at Sam's shop?"

Any other time Idia would probably give in to Ortho's puppy eyes, but today he was really tired.

"Sorry Ortho, but I really just want to go back to my room and get out of this outfit. And I have some candies from Sam already."

Ortho nods in understanding. "That's okay! You had a long day. I'll bring some cake to the room later?"

"Mmm that would be great. Thank you." Idia ruffles his hair affectionately. 

"I'll bring you to the cake then, Ortho-kun"

Idia was startled again by his vice-leader. "I forgot you're still here dude."

The light-blue-haired student merely sighs. "Story of my life." He then proceeds to the kitchen, beckoning Ortho to follow him. Idia drags himself back to his room and feels himself relax seeing the familiar surroundings of the dorm. He stretches and groans once he's safe in the comfort of his room.

"Haaaaaaaa I've worked hard today. I don't want to meet a human in real life for a week at least." 

Idia starts taking off the uniform, feeling more and more free as he changes clothes. He flops down on his chair once he's comfortably in his t-shirt and sweatpants, booting up his PC.

While he was collecting birthday bonuses on his tablet, Ortho enters the room with a slice of cake, complete with a single candle sparkling.

"Happy birthday Nii-san!"

Idia gazes fondly at Ortho and remembers all the past birthdays he's spent with his little brother. Here in the comfort of his room, in his casual wear playing his games and having Ortho with him, Idia couldn't ask for a better ending to his birthday.

"Thank you. It was a good birthday."

Idia takes the plate and puts it on his table, planning to eat it later while he's rolling on his birthday gacha. For now, he needs to play Olympia Dimension with the other Ignihyde members. Ortho takes a seat beside Idia, preparing to play the game as well.

"Oh by the way Ortho," Idia starts, "what was the special assignment Crowley gave you? You were out the whole day." 

Ortho merely hums. "Nothing much, just some forest maintenance work."

Idia logs in the game. He sees that he received the special 5 star weapon for his main character. He types in the groupchat.

_"weapon arrived"_

_"Gratz. HB."_

_"hb"_

_"Happy birthday boss!╰(*°▽°*)╯"_

A notification pops up informing him that he's received a gift. 2 gifts. 4, 7, 15... a total of 24 gifts from his buddy list. He grins.

_"thx for buffs"_

_"max out weapon?"_

_"on it"_

_"Let's get a win for boss on his bday!"_

_"wwwww"_

_"wwwwwww"_

Idia laughs. "Alright. Don't disappoint me peasants."

* * *

**OMAKE**

"Where is Shroud-kun?" Crowley asks the group of dorm leaders.

Azul checks his phone. "Seems Ortho-kun said he changed plans. He said _"Nii-san looked tired when he came back. He just wants to spend time in his room, so we won't be coming."_ I told you he wasn't going to show up," Azul sighs.

Crowley lets out an offended noise. "But we already prepared all this feast and party for him! Ortho-kun even helped throughout the day. We can't celebrate without the birthday boy!"

Leona scoffs. "Of course we can. He's happy celebrating his birthday in his room, and we're happy celebrating it with all this food in this hall. It's a win-win situation."

Vil, for once, agrees with Leona. "It's too bad he's not here, but we can't let all this food go to waste. And a lot of the students are already here too." 

Kalim turns to a group of Scarabia students. "You hear that guys? Let's celebrate on behalf of Idia and enjoy ourselves!"

The group cheers.

In the end, everyone enjoyed the food at Idia's birthday party, without him even being there.

The next day, Idia receives a text from the dorm leader's groupchat. It was a picture of them posing happily around Azul who solemnly held a framed picture of him.

_"In memories, Idia Shroud's 18th birthday celebration"_

"Wha- am I dead??"

**Author's Note:**

> Congratulations for making it to the end! I hope you enjoyed it. You can see how I just went crazier as the story progresses. What even was the omake at the end? xD
> 
> This was written before the birthday card story dropped, which is why some gifts are not the same as the story. I thought of changing Azul's gift but the anime figurine was just too nice, I had to let it be. Grim's part was newly added. I was so happy about Idia mentioning Cater because I did write that Cater took a picture with him lol typical Cater. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this. Tell me which gifts and interactions you like the best. I personally like Diasomnia's part because what even was I thinking while writing that? LOL
> 
> Special cookies to whoever can guess who Ignihyde's vice-leader is based from, even though I only vaguely described him. Hint: it's an anime character.
> 
> Happy birthday Idia Shroud! Love you lots <3


End file.
